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BMI has reported record revenue of $1.199 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30th. The PRO distributed and administered a record $1.118 billion in royalties to its songwriters, composers and publishers, an increase of $95 million, or 9% higher than the previous year.
The $1.118 billion in total distributions includes domestic and international royalties, as well as royalties from direct deals that BMI administers on behalf of its publishers. Distributions from these direct deals totaled $53 million, a $17 million increase over the previous year, account for about 5% of the PRO's total distribution for the period...

All About Jazz is celebrating Oliver Lake's birthday today!
Born in Marianna, Arkansas in 1942, Oliver moved to St. Louis at the age of two. He began drawing at the age of thirteen (and paints daily, using oil, acrylics, wood, canvas, and mixed media), and soon after began playing cymbals and bass drum in various drum and bugle corps. At 17, he began to take a serious interest in jazz. Like many other members of BAG and its Chicago-based sister organization... Read more...

m: Anne Sajdera's remarkable acumen as both a pianist and a composer finds rejuvenation on New Year, set for November 2 release on her own Bijuri Records. The album hits close to home for Sajdera -- her ancestral home, that is, of the Czech Republic and its storied capital, Prague. A 2014 trip to Europe's 'Golden City' was the catalyst for the album's creation...

All About Jazz is celebrating Mel Torme's birthday today!
Mel Torme was among the most enduring singers from the big-band era, maligned by some as the epitome of lounge singer, acclaimed by many more as one of a talented and serious vocalist. Legend has it that Torme began singing for his supper a Chicago restaurant when he was four and was working the vaudeville circuit soon after. He worked as a child actor on radio, and began writing songs in his early teens. In the early 1940s... Read more...

Tony Fruscella is among the least known trumpeters of the cool jazz movement. His dry tone sits somewhere on a sliding scale between Miles Davis and Chet Baker, with touches of Art Farmer. Yet Fruscella's sound was plenty distinct. With Fruscella, there were no piercing or bent notes or a fleshy romanticism. His improvised lines were highly melodic but his tone was introspective and dry, like fine sand. When you listen to him, you hear a horn expressing nocturnal introspection free of flash or showmanship. It's understated, sensitive and pure, with his lines more like a sketch than a fully rendered illustration.&#0160;...

Quincy Jones has led a $1 million seed funding round in music tech startup Jammcard. The music industry professionals network has been called the "LinkedIn for musicians" by Forbes.
Jammcard connects the music community via an invite-only social network for vetted pros and exclusive, members-only events. The app is credited with assembling live bands for Gwen Stefani, Zedd, Maren Morris, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Jason Derulo and Grace VanderWaal. In addition, Jammcard curates a signature monthly live event called the JammJam, which have included takeovers of Tower Records and Capitol Records...

About Perspectives II "All of my music is improvisational... a conversation between musicians and musical instruments. A joint emotional expression inspired by a certain common feeling, thought or perspective in an instinctual, unpredictable, freely expressed improvisation exploring authentic feelings and inspirations that is being communicated to an audience, a listener, a community." -- Billie Davies...

All About Jazz is celebrating Brian Lynch's birthday today!
Brian Lynch GRAMMY AWARD WINNER; 4 GRAMMY NOMINATIONS; 2017 TRUMPETER OF THE YEAR, RECORD OF THE YEAR (Jazz Journalists Association) 'This is a new millennium, and a lot of music has gone down,' Brian Lynch said several years ago. 'I think that to be a jazz musician now means drawing on a wider variety of things than 30 or 40 years ago. Not just to play a little bit of this or a little bit of that... Read more...

Two Jims and Zoot (1964) is a spectacular album that began as guitarist Jimmy Raney's idea. For some time, he had wanted to record an album with two guitars. When guitarist Jim Hall became available, the pair added tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Osie Johnson. On the album, the quintet takes on A Primera Vez (For the First Time) by Guy Mardel and Ralph Bernet. The ensembles opens the song swinging, with Sims taking the first solo. Next comes an extraordinary solo by Raney, followed by Hall's jagged attack. If you don't already have this one, it's a must own. Here's A Primera Vez...

While the CD has hung on longer than some might have guessed, it's decline has been steady. That said, some are still turning a profit from this outdated form of music. Here we look at Alliance Entertainment, the largest wholesaler of physical music in the US.
Guest post Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0...

While you may not yet be ready to employ a full-time music manager, that doesn't mean that, as a DIY artist, you need to totally go it alone. In fact, there are a number of ways you can expand your team and advance your career without having to fully invest in a manager. Here we look at five things an accountability team can do for you...

All About Jazz is celebrating Harry Connick, Jr.'s birthday today!
Harry Connick, Jr.\'s career has been studded with awards and recognition, including several multi-platinum and gold albums, Grammy and Emmy awards, a starring role in a Tony-winning Broadway musical and much more. A true American icon, there are few artists of Harry\'s stature, and fewer still with such a comprehensive span of the entire realm of entertainment. Harry grew up in New Orleans... Read more...

Organist Ron Feuer recorded just one jazz leadership album -- Vital Organ, in 1959. It also happened to be his first album. The date for Bob Keane's Del-Fi label featured Frank Rosolino (tb), Bill Perkins (ts), Ron Feuer (org), Paul Moer (p), Jimmy Bond (b) and Frank Butler and Bill Higgins (d). Feuer was just 20 at the time and displayed an unusual technique and swirling soul...

Becoming a successful artist will, on some level, always necessitate a certain amount of branding, and a huge part of your visual identity comes from the font you choose. In this piece we look at how to determine which will work the best for you.
Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0
Everyone in the music business is ultimately a brand, and the ones that develop theirs are ultimately the most successful. Artists, bands, musicians, producers, even indie record labels, have a tough time discovering their brand though, and in some cases they don't know where to start. In the second edition of my Social Media Promotion For Musicians handbook there's a specific chapter on branding that describes how to begin with 3 easy things - settling on a name, picking a color, and picking a font...

The singing sustain of multiple razor edged electric guitars, the monster rock backbeat of Jethro Tull drummer Doane Perry and The Moonlight Sonata? Yes, This mash-up is the concept behind Tone Masseve's album Amp L'etude. Classical pieces? Yes, but these are not the dry, conventional versions we've all heard before. The album vividly brings these compositions to life with a new and powerful sound...

All About Jazz is celebrating Lorraine Feather's birthday today!
Lyricist/singer Lorraine Feather's work has been heard on numerous records, in films and on television. Her songs have been covered extensively by adult contemporary and jazz artists, including Phyllis Hyman, Kenny Rankin, Patti Austin, Diane Schuur and Cleo Laine. As a jazz singer, Lorraine has recorded eleven albums, three with her vocal trio Full Swing and eight as a soloist... Read more...

Philadelphia lost another great cultural leader this week with the passing of Donald Gardner, who died on Tuesday, September 4, 2018, at the age of 87.
Gardner's legacy spanned eight decades starting in 1947 as a singer and songwriter. His biggest hit was 'Need Your Lovin,' which rose to number four on the R&B charts in 1962 and was later recorded by Otis Redding, Tom Jones, and Jackie Wilson among others. After releasing his third album, he created his own group, The Three Bachelors, renamed The Sonotones. He later joined Dee Dee Ford and created an unforgettable duo. Don not only enjoyed success in the United States but also abroad where he toured with several artists. His success continued as a solo artist as well as partnering with Baby Washington in the 1970s. He remained in music as an artist and repertoire (A&R) manager into the 1980s...

Rafal Sarnecki, Climbing Trees (Outside In Music)
A native of Warsaw, guitarist Sarnecki moved to New York City in 2005. An adventurous -- even daring -- composer, he heads a sextet whose members have similar inclinations. His ten compositions here range from the agitated pointillism and serene contemplation of 'Homo Sapiens' to a three-part suite, 'Little Dolphin,' that includes an intense Lucas Pino tenor saxophone solo and an ethereal vocal part performed by Sarnecki's fellow Pole Bogna Kicinska. Ms Kicinska is an attractive presence throughout the album, frequently in complex unison passages with guitar or piano. Pianist Glenn Zalenski shines in those demanding duets and in several solos. Sarnecki's guitar-piano exchanges with Zalenski in the opening 'Solar Eclipse' and Colin Stranahan's drumming over a relentless vamp in the closing 'Homo Sapiens' are typical of the attention-getting power of this band. Their depth may come as a revelation to those hearing it for the first time...

Here's what we know: The End of a Love Affair was composed by Edward "E.C. or Bud" Redding and published in 1950. That's it. There's virtually nothing about Redding's career online or the purpose of the song. So I rolled up my sleeves and discovered that it was likely written for a New York cabaret or musical revue...